Introduction

Judas

What kind of man would bargain for Jesus? The man is the man Judas and although he’s not a pleasant person to study, he gets a lot of attention in the Gospels and so we need to ask ourselves why?

I don’t believe that anybody suddenly becomes influenced. I don’t believe that Judas was ever a second-class disciple.

Remember he was chosen by Jesus to be numbered among the twelve after Jesus spent a full night in prayer, Luke 6:12-16. Judas was treated, he was taught just the same as all of the other disciples, and he was sent out by Christ to minister by the same apostolic authority.

Yes! Judas went out in the name of Jesus and healed the sick, imagine that? Imagine looking back years later and when you realise that your baby is alive because Judas healed him.

Yes! Judas went out in the name of Jesus and cast demons out of people. And yes, Judas went out and preached the good news of the kingdom of heaven to the multitudes. Judas was just as much a disciple as anyone else.

I think a lot of our portrayals of Judas are way off the mark. Every picture I’ve ever seen, an artist’s portrayal of the disciples, always has Judas away off in the corner.

I don’t know why, but he’s always a skinny looking guy. Kind of small and thin, he’s always got dark hair and a goatee beard, but I don’t know what that means. But he’s always a sinister-looking guy and when you take one look at the picture you will always say, ‘That guy is Judas!’

Because if he wasn’t Judas, he probably is a gang leader. How do we know that he wasn’t a big guy, with a big old smile on his face, how do we know that Judas didn’t have the heartiest laugh of any of the disciples?

This man was as zealous as any of the twelve. The other twelve trusted him enough that when they needed someone to take care of the money, they picked Judas.

I think Judas probably like the others was just as passionate in the beginning as any of them. He was a nationalist just like Peter, John and Simon. He thought Jesus was going to launch the political liberation of Israel, and he was on the ground floor to make it happen.

But what I think happened, I think sooner than the others, Judas was the one who realised that Jesus wasn’t willing to be the king, he wanted him to be.

I believe that Judas became disillusioned. Imagine that he is the treasurer of a nearly bankrupt movement, following a man that in Judas’ opinion cannot take advantage of the moment.

I think for Judas the real turning point is in John 6. Jesus feeds the multitude, and the crowd try to force Him to become king, John 6:15.

This is the moment all the twelve have been waiting for. ‘Let’s crown Jesus, let’s round up the troops, let’s ride into Jerusalem and let’s liberate Israel.’

Do you know what Jesus did? He refused, He withdrew from the multitude when they came to find Him the next day, and He preached one of the fieriest sermons He ever preached.

He says, ‘the only reason you’re here is for the food.’ He started talking about eating His flesh and drinking His blood and the Bible says that after that many people turned away, John 6:66. And in Judas’ mind, Jesus blew it.

And that’s when Jesus said something very interesting that he hadn’t said yet. He chose the twelve but one of them would later betray Him, John 6:70-71.

I don’t know if at this moment Judas plans to betray Jesus, that’s still two years away. But at this moment already in the heart of Judas is frustration and disillusionment that Satan is going to start to work on. From that moment on, Judas began to live more and more of the life of an impostor.

I think for some time, Judas started to live that way. He started to do the stuff but not listen to the music. In fact, at some point, it says that every now and then he would put his hand in the money to get a little out. He was determined to get something out of his association with Jesus. And with every small act of treachery, his heart grew a little bit harder.

When we get towards the last week of Jesus’ life, He’s anointed at Bethany by Mary. Who opens a bottle of perfume, which is worth a year’s wages, her life’s savings and she just extravagantly pours it on Jesus. And the Bible says Judas wasn’t happy about it, because he used to help himself to the money in the money bag, John 12:4-6.

For Judas, the final straw was for Jesus giving a blessing to Mary for her extravagance. In Matthew 26:14-16, we find Judas making his agreement with the leaders to hand Jesus over for thirty pieces of silver.

I think Judas could have got a lot more. I mean this shows how far Jesus has sunk in his eyes. He could have pushed for much more from the chief priests. Thirty pieces of silver were just the price of a common slave.

Jesus Predicts His Betrayal By Judas

‘I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfil this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am. Very truly I tell you, whoever accepts anyone I send accepts me; and whoever accepts me accepts the one who sent me.” After he had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, “Very truly I tell you, one of you is going to betray me.” His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them he meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to him. Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said, “Ask him which one he means.” Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, “Lord, who is it?” Jesus answered, “It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then, dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. As soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. So, Jesus told him, “What you are about to do, do quickly.” But no one at the meal understood why Jesus said this to him. Since Judas had charge of the money, some thought Jesus was telling him to buy what was needed for the festival, or to give something to the poor. As soon as Judas had taken the bread, he went out. And it was night.’ John 13:18-30

Luke placed Jesus’ announcement of His betrayal after the institution of the Lord’s Supper, Luke 22:21-23, whereas Matthew and Mark located it before that event in their Gospels.

Ellicott, in his commentary, says the following.

‘On the whole, the order of the first two Gospels seems here the most probable. and agrees better with the fourth. The date before us do not enable us to say with certainty whether Judas partook of the memorial; but, if we follow the first two Gospels, it would seem probable that he did not.’

And so, we shift now to a few days later and we go to the upper room. All the disciples are gathered together to have a Passover meal, Exodus 12:18-20. The disciples suggest that they prepare for the Passover by finding a place to have the meal together, Luke 22:15.

Jesus knows His time to go to the cross was nearing, Luke 9:51, but His disciples never really understood what He meant. They didn’t understand Jesus Himself was the Passover lamb, Luke 22:7-13.

As they were getting on with the meal, Jesus interrupts and announces that one of them would betray Him, Matthew 26:21 / Mark 14:18, which sent shockwaves through the disciples.

Jesus hints at the coming events and He reminds the disciples present of Psalms 41:9, in which it is prophesied that one close to the Lord would betray Him and so He ensures that the men know when the incident occurs, ‘He who ate my bread’ etc., Psalm 41:9 / John 13:18-19.

They’re, introduced to ‘even my close friend, someone I trusted’, Psalm 41:9 / John 13:18. This is a picture of a close, personal friend, enjoying a relationship of trust, betraying his host. Sharing a meal was more than a social occasion, guaranteed mutual trust between host and guest.

The disciples now know that one of them will betray Jesus. And John says something very interesting, ‘the evening meal was being served, and the devil had already prompted Judas Iscariot, son of Simon, to betray Jesus,’ John 13:2.

We have to wonder was the blood money on Judas that night? Were the thirty silver coins in his pocket when he sat down to have supper with Jesus?

Something else I think about, is this, what was going on in the minds of both men when Jesus washed the feet of Judas? John 13:5 / John 13:11.

Judas knew what he was going to do, and Jesus knew he was going to do it, John 13:11. What were both men thinking when Jesus washed his feet?

I think Jesus was about to get really personal with this battle. I think the Lord was about to make one last appeal to His deserting disciple. I want to show you what happened at the Supper because it was a real battle, John 13:18-30.

Notice that Jesus basically said three things. A prediction, an answer and a command.

Jesus said, ‘one of you is going to betray me’, Matthew 26:21 / Mark 14:18. Can you imagine the gulp that Judas had to restrain when Jesus said that? Can you imagine the shock that he had to try and keep from registering when Jesus said that?

This text makes us face the sovereignty of God and the free will of men. Jesus predicted His betrayal but predicted doesn’t mean predestined. In other words, Jesus’ awareness of Judas’ betrayal doesn’t excuse Judas from responsibility for his actions.

God does not design treachery, but God can design treachery in His plan. God doesn’t make men do evil, but God can use evil men. Later Judas’ remorse is evident that betrayal was his choice, Matthew 27:3. He did not have to betray Jesus, but God used that betrayal to save the world.

The reason Jesus made the prediction was to let the other disciples know that He was in control. The situation wasn’t out of hand. Later, looking back, the apostles would remember that Jesus’ betrayal and death were exactly what He had predicted, John 12:16 / John 13:19.

In other words, later they were going to reflect, they were going to look back on that night. And they are going realise that Jesus saw that coming, it was all part of a plan, He knew what was about to happen.

And they were going to realise He really is the Son of God, He really is in control, He really is the Lord. That’s why Jesus made that prediction.

He wasn’t the helpless victim of superior forces; He was totally in control of the situation. One sent by God to effect God’s purpose going forward calmly and unafraid, to do what God had planned for him to do.

It will re-enforce their conviction that He is the one written about so many years before. He shows that even at this late stage He is concerned about the spiritual well-being of the men who are to carry the message to all the world.

He uses this opportunity to assure the disciples that all who accept the word they are to bring accept Jesus and therefore accept God as well, John 13:20.

Again, in John 13:20 we find the words, ‘very truly,’ which is solemn assurance, ‘and one whom I send’, an apostle, Matthew 10:40 / Luke 10:16.

These men are to be His inspired representatives, John 14:26 / John 15:26-27 / John 16:13. To receive them, heed their teaching is to receive the Lord Jesus and to receive Him is to receive the Father who sent Him.

Notice that Jesus ‘was troubled in spirit,’ John 13:21 / John 11:33 / John 12:27. His prediction ‘one of you will betray me,’ is His third reference to the betrayer in John 13. One terrible thing lay in the heart of the Lord, He knew the time was coming close, so He needed to tell of this thing, John 13:21.

The Bible says, ‘He testified’ as opposed to ‘He told’, John 13:21. This infers more of a declaration, a speech of significant importance, something that He had seen, or been witness to. Thus, this was a prophecy that of course, was soon to be seen to be trustworthy.

The words, ‘one of you is going to betray me’, Matthew 26:21 / Mark 14:18 / John 13:21, must have cut to the heart of this group of men. The disciples were perplexed, ‘at a loss to know which of them he meant’, John 13:22. They looked at each other, each wondering who was to be guilty of this most hideous crime, Matthew 26:22 / Mark 14:19.

The one whom Jesus loved John 13:23 / John 19:26 / John 20:2 / John 21:7 / John 21:20, is a reference to John. Tradition has always understood this to be John.

All the Gospels describe this event, and all show concern to ensure the individual would not be the guilty party. In his humility, John never names himself in the account and the other accounts describe John as the one Jesus loved.

In John 13:24, we see that each guest was reclining at a low table, John was next to Jesus. When Jesus said, ‘one of you will betray me’, Matthew 26:21 / Mark 14:18 / John 13:21. Peter made a sign or gesture to John, asking, ‘who is it he means?’ John 13:24.

John merely leaned back and asked Jesus, ‘Lord who is it?’ John 13:25. The way he recounts the incident with John 13:27-29, suggests that this was a private interchange, question and answer not heard by the others.

Notice that all the other disciples address Jesus as Lord, Matthew 26:22 / John 13:25, but Judas simply addressed Jesus as Rabbi, meaning teacher, Matthew 26:25. Jesus was more than a teacher, He was the Son of God, John 20:30-31.

I think the disciple’s amazing lack of suspicion about Judas tells a us couple of things.

1. It tells us that Judas hid his dishonesty very well.

You can be a bargainer for Christ and other people will never know it.

2. Jesus must have treated Judas as well as any of the other disciples.

If they had seen over the years that Jesus had a problem with Judas, they would have suspected Judas, but they didn’t. Because there was nothing about the way Jesus loved Judas that gave them any hint that Judas would sell his Lord.

Why do you think Peter wants to know? Peter wanted to take preventative action. Peter’s got a sword, Matthew 26:51-55 / Luke 22:49-51 / John 18:10-15. And all he needs to know is who in this room would sell out Jesus.

With the lifting one finger, Jesus could have saved His life and ended Judas’ like that. Peter would have jumped up and cut off his head so fast, Judas wouldn’t know about it until he sneezed. Jesus didn’t do that.

Instead, He gave an answer that only Judas could respond to. He said in John 13:26 ‘It is the one to whom I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.’ We might ask, well why didn’t they figure it out then?

How many of you have seen a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait of ‘The Last Supper’? It’s a magnificent work but it’s so wrong. They didn’t sit at a long table, in chairs, with a white tablecloth. Passover was eaten lying on the floor, John 13:13 / John 13:23.

They would have a U-shaped table, with the host up at the front, in the very middle. There was someone on the right in a special place of honour. And someone on the left in a very special place of honour. And everybody else would be down the sides. They would lie down on their left elbow and eat with their right hand.

That’s why the Bible says that ‘John was up against the breast of Jesus,’ John 13:25. He didn’t have bad table manners, John was right here, to the right of Jesus. Right up against His breast as they ate. Now let me ask you, who would have been right to the left of Jesus in the very special place of honour?

Somebody so close to Jesus could take a piece of bread and hand it to him. Jesus gave Judas the place of honour at the Passover. And all that the disciples thought that was happening, in fact, we know later from Matthew that Jesus and Judas were able to have a very private conversation.

We read that although Judas was aware of the decision he had made to betray the Lord, he didn’t want to reveal himself, Matthew 26:25.

We see a piece of bread or meat dipped in the sauce, which was bitter herbs, Matthew 26:23 / Mark 14:20 / John 13:26. Giving a piece of bread to a guest was a sign of friendship or special favour, this would mean that Jesus wasn’t only identifying the traitor to John but also assuring Judas of His love for him.

It was love’s last appeal, He knew what Judas planned, but in the end, he held out the opportunity to turn from the wickedness of his heinous crime. I believe He was making a special appeal to Judas’ heart. He was holding that piece of bread there and He was looking right into his eyes.

And both men knew what He was saying, ‘Judas I know it’s you, I know what you’re struggling with, I know what you’re thinking about doing to me Judas, can you go through with it? Can you turn on me like that? Can you sell me out?’

Jesus was knocking at the door of his heart and Judas threw open the door and told Jesus to stay outside and he invited Satan in, John 13:27 / Luke 22:3. As someone once said, ‘it was Judas’ Gethsemane.’

Just like in Gethsemane when Jesus made His decision, and the angels came to give Him strength. Judas made his decision, and the dark angel showed up that quick, to make sure he didn’t change his mind. And at that moment Jesus knew that He had lost him.

The whole betrayal of Jesus was foreordained, Jesus would suffer the death of the cross, Isaiah 53 / Psalm 22 / Acts 2:23. Jesus says it would be better for His betrayal to have never been born, Matthew 26:24 / Mark 14:21 / John 17:12.

When we read John 13:28-29, we need to ask, why didn’t John expose Judas? He and other disciples knew nothing of Judas’ plans, and he may not have thought that the betrayal was imminent.

All the apostles said, ‘Is it I?’, Matthew 26:22, so probably they were thinking not of deliberate, calculated treachery, but involuntary betrayal, e.g. Peter’s denial.

Also, the apostles refused to accept that Jesus was going to a cross. On the other side of Cavalry, it must have seemed incredible that Jesus should urge Judas to do his work of betrayal quickly, John 13:27.

This is the only time in Scripture where God and Satan gave a man the same command. Judas was arranging for Jesus’ crucifixion, John 13:27 / Luke 12:50.

Jesus was thinking, ‘I have a baptism to undergo, what tension I must suffer, till it is all over! As if He said to Judas, Get on with it. I must get it over with!’ Matthew 26:24 / Mark 14:21.

The disciples think Jesus is referring to some act of kindness, John 13:29, but the most extreme opposite is true. He is referring to the most terrible crime ever committed against man or God, Matthew 26:24 / Mark 14:21.

Judas casts aside all hesitation and gives himself up wholly to Satan’s work. Up to this point, he had doubts and impulses to do better, but now he plunges headlong into the bottomless pit.

Judas rejects Jesus’ last plea of mercy and Judas goes out into the night, John 13:30. Although it was night, I’m sure that John was referring to more than the obvious, Jesus is the light, John 8:12 / John 12:46. It’s always dark when you leave Jesus!

The word ‘night’, John 13:30, marks the time, but probably symbolic also, the forces of darkness were gathering around Jesus, Luke 22:53.

Also, Judas deliberately rejected the Light of the World, John 8:12, and went out into total spiritual darkness. He ceases to follow and loses the light of life, the picture painted is gloomy and intensely sad, Matthew 26:24 / Mark 14:21. He had a chance to repent for his betrayal, but his worldly sorrow led him to hang himself, Matthew 27:5 / 2 Corinthians 7:10.

Conclusion

The problem with reading about Judas is that over the centuries, he has been so despised that we can’t relate to him, but the disciples could.

The question they asked when Jesus said, ‘one of you is going to betray me’ is ‘Is it I?’ ‘Could it be me?’

I think that’s the question we’re supposed to ask ourselves because I think if we look deep into our hearts, we will admit that there have been times in our lives when we have made some hard bargains for Jesus.

Judas sold out Jesus for thirty pitiful pieces of silver, but I’ve sold Jesus out for less than that, haven’t you?